Representing a hybrid space with a modern approach to the Chinese community, the Genesis Beijing brand aims to evoke a reflective mindset. As a new kind of urban experience in the vibrant city center, Genesis Beijing is intended to create a state of being where life is experienced as facile, intuitive and connected. Its philosophy, dedicated to mental health and well-being, has its roots in the Daoist ‘wu wei’, the art of living effortlessly. In line with this progressive conviction, the demand for the corporate design was to transfer the flow state of mind into a holistic branding concept and bring it to life.
As a result, the fluctuating Genesis brand is built from five patterns or ‘flow states’; play, pause, reflect, exchange and concentrate. In collaboration with the agency Wolff Olins, onformative created a corporate design tool that explores these states by offering an adaptable pattern to evoke each feeling. It is capable of generating all visual material, including the logo, needed for various platforms and media. As the brand stands for a hybrid space of encounter, the branding concept offers a variety of possibilities to apply the corporate design to the architecture with the help of the dynamic tool.
Taking the classic branding concept further, the Genesis Beijing brand is not only expressed through unique marketing material, but also transferable to more abstract interpretations such as spatial brand installations. Developed in an extensive research, these experimental concepts elevate the flow principle to a more abstract level.
They consider elements like glass, wood, light and water and are inspired by natural phenomena such as swarm behaviour. From floating light installations to reflective materials and dynamically shaped sculptures, each of them is designed with the intention to invigorate the space in its impact. Playful, yet consistent, the concept allows the spirit of the brand to complement the space in multiple ways.
With the tool as a basis for the dynamic interpretation of the brand, the corporate design is flexible and easy to be recreated over and over again. Hence, the branding concept vividly allows the brand to shape the space and vice versa.
